CPAC Straw Poll: Rand Paul Wins

Daniel Halper

March 16, 2013 5:34 PM

Rand Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky, has won this year's CPAC straw poll. Marco Rubio, the junior senator from Florida, came in second.

"Sen. Rand Paul won the 2013 Washington Times-CPAC presidential preference straw poll Saturday, and Sen. Marco Rubio was a close second, easily outdistancing the rest of the field and signaling the rise of a new generation of conservative leaders who will take the Republican Party into the 2016 election," reports the Washington Times, a sponsorer of the poll.

"Mr. Paul won 25 percent of the vote, and Mr. Rubio collected 23 percent. Former Sen. Rick Santorum was third with just 8 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — who was not invited to speak at the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference — was next with 7 percent, and Rep. Paul D. Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee last year, was fifth with 6 percent."